(Minghui.org) In the Fa-rectification period, besides doing the Three Things, one needs to work and interact with other practitioners when doing Fa-rectification things together. I have some thoughts to share with practitioners who are working with other practitioners on how to improve efficiency, reduce the chances of conflict and cultivate ourselves well.
1. Listen to others' opinions in a humble way. We are here to validate the Fa. As long as someone's ideas are good enough to help achieve the purpose of validating the Fa, another person should let go of his or her own opinions and work with the first person well. For example, practitioner A and B were working with each other to make truth-clarification posters. Practitioner A liked to put down more words on the poster, whereas practitioner B preferred a simpler design; each one had their own opinion, and neither could convince the other. The matter should actually be very simple; as long as one can validate Dafa, it doesn't matter whether the poster has more or less words on it. Rather, one should be willing to take a step back, to work well with each other. Perhaps work on how to make the color look better, etc. One should never, because of the fact that one didn't end up using the design one likes, develop negative thoughts.
2. When seeing another practitioner's problem, one needs to look within. If one is right, one needs to hold onto one's opinion, and not be affected by other practitioners' negative state. For example, there were three practitioners close to me who found it easy to look down upon others; even though practitioner B went out to clarify the facts every day, she did not do it for the sake of having people fully understand the truth, but rather for reaching certain numbers. Practitioner B's state was not optimal. I have seen practitioners who did not cultivate their speech, were jealous, were unkind, had the attachment of differentiating people, etc. However, when I began to look inward, I found that I had the same issues. I have also discovered another issue, which is, I always wanted to be someone that has a good relationship with everyone. I also lacked confidence in believing in my own enlightenment; I trusted others' enlightenment quality better than mine. Even when I knew that other practitioners were wrong, I didn't dare to hold onto my own opinion. My main consciousness was not strong enough, to the extent that I always followed what others said as opposed to valuing my own opinion.
3. Point out practitioners' problems kindly. We are cultivating kindness, therefore, when we point out practitioners' problems, we must be kind and express our opinions in a peaceful and kind way, which means we should never criticize others in an antagonistic way as does the Chinese Communist Party culture. Once, when I was napping at home during the daytime, a practitioner came in. Seeing that I was resting, she scolded me, and then she left. The first thought that came across my mind was: “Just by looking at her attitude, she doesn't cultivate very well either.” Therefore, I didn't correct my behavior right away. Later, when I was talking to another practitioner about it, she said to me that my critic didn't sleep much and made the most of her time for Fa-study, and her cultivation state was very good. After that conversation, I was touched and decided to try to sleep less. What I learned was that my cultivation state was not very solid, and when I ran into a xinxing test, I didn't look within. On the other hand, using the method of criticizing others, one does not encourage very positive results. Practitioners change themselves for the better not when they are criticized, but rather when they are willing to do better.
4. Do not be attached to practitioners' attachments, treat practitioners with kindness. After we kindly point out practitioners' attachments, if they don't want to change themselves, we still should treat them with kindness. Practitioner A treated other family members not very kindly, and she was also very willing to talk behind the backs of other practitioners. After we talked to her about these problems, she did not correct her behavior. There were also other practitioners who kept pointing their fingers at practitioner A behind her back, which shows that they were very attached to practitioner A's attachments. Their state of mind was not right either. Teacher said in “Why Do You Reject It?” in Hong Yin III: “Compassion is the Divine's eternal state.” If practitioners are able to change themselves, we would treat others with kindness rather than treat them badly. This situation shows that that we failed to develop compassion, had a lot of sentimentality or emotion, and were immersed in ordinary people's sentimentality and emotion.
5. Get rid of the attachment to oneself, get rid of selfishness. From Teacher's lectures, I came to enlighten that the attachments to fame and self-interest come down to one's selfishness. If this selfishness does not get relinquished, one cannot step forward. We are afraid that because of some practitioners' poor cultivation, we'd be affected, which is selfishness; we are afraid to have contact with other practitioners, which is selfishness; we are not willing to help other practitioners, this is selfishness. To have the attachment of indifference in saving people, this is selfishness; pursuing one's enlightenment, mighty virtue and level, this is also selfishness. In an article on the Minghui website, practitioners wrote that only by being selfless, can one snap out of the old forces' arrangements. I also find this true. Selfishness can give rise to many attachments, such as the attachments to fame, self-interest and sentimentality. As we get rid of the fundamental attachments of pursuing happiness in the human world and to achieving our personal goals in life, this attachment to one's own ego can surface. Only if one gets rid of the attachment to oneself, can one continue to move forward on one's cultivation path. If we truly reach the state of being selfless, we'd have clear and clean minds, very little attachments, and we could have a good control on our every thought. When we have no attachments, how can the old forces possibly take advantage of us? Of course, by then we could break through the old forces' every arrangement.
We would like to break through the gaps between practitioners, gaps that are formed through our attachments. If we could really get rid of all the attachments, we'd be able to form a solid one-body, regardless of the fact that we all do different things. This is my understanding on the issue of forming one body.
This is my personal understanding. Due to my limited level, please point out anything inappropriate.
Views expressed in this article represent the author's own opinions or understandings. All content published on this website are copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
